Thenga Pal Saadam (Coconut Milk Rice)

I absolutely love Thenga Pal Saadam but my sisters Mother In Law prepares it so well that I can never match it to her taste. I usually serve this with some spicy curry and this time I served this with boiled egg masala (look out for my next post for this recipe).
Now, there are many ways to make thenga paal saadam. Many usually cook rice separately and then mix with grated coconut. In the below method, I cooked rice with coconut milk. really, its so simple!

Ingredients:
Rice (un-cooked, long grain): 3 cups
Onion: 1 large, finely chopped, length wise
Green Chili: 3 large
Coconut Milk: 1 can or milk from 1 fresh coconut
Biryani leaf: 1
Cardamom: 3
Cinnamon: 1 inch piece
Flower (star ani): 1
Ghee/Oil: 2 tbsp

Method:

• Soak rice in water and set aside for about 10 mins.
• Heat a large dish (big enough to fit rice) and add Ghee/oil. 
• When Ghee heats up, add biryani leaf, star ani, cardamom and Cinnamon. Now add green chilies followed by onion.
• Fry Onion until translucent. Now add rice and fry for 2 mins. 
• Now, I usually add 3 cups water and 3 cups coconut milk for 3 cups of rice. Which means, I am using 1:2 rice to liquid ratio. You can also add 6 cups of coconut milk but somehow i find that this would make the rice look like Risotto. I usually add 3 cups water and 3 cups coconut milk.
• Now add salt and cook the rice until well done. 

That's all!